Thanks for having me over today, Sue. I’m here to talk about my newest novel, The Yak Guy Project. This is the tale of a deplorable young man who is given a second chance at life. His journey is hard, and the opportunity for failure is ever present.

Excerpts are a valid way to promote a new story. I like to have a couple of them for novels, so I’m going to share the beginning of this tale with all of you. Enjoy.

1.

Throbbing pain in my head.
Heat. Not like The Strip at two P.M. More like a pizza oven.
The dirt burnt my face. Dust particles smelled like salt.
I rolled over. The earth crunched under me. Everything swirled bright white, yellow, and blue before my eyes. I rubbed them, and my forehead was soaked with sweat.
My vision swirled again when I sat up. Salt encrusted flat as far as I could see, which wasn’t far. The heat waves turned everything into a swirl again.
Snow-capped mountains rose above the heat blur when I lifted my head. No tire tracks, no footprints, nothing. How did I get here?
One black dot jumped back and forth in the heat waves. Maybe it was a Jeep. I forced myself up and waved. “Over here!”
I had no idea where to go, but the mountains looked cooler than this place. Three weak steps later it felt like someone kicked me in the balls, and I went down.
I don’t know how long I was out, but when I pushed myself to my elbows, the dot was closer. It was moving, help was on the way.
I managed to move into a sitting position and crossed my arms. I winced at the pain. My arms were covered with blisters and hot to the touch. The sun bore down upon me. A vulture soared across the sky so high up I doubted he saw me, but I knew he had. It’s a race then – the Jeep or the vulture.
The Jeep resolved itself into a lone cow. Oh, fuck. How the hell was I going to get out of here now? The cow was coming straight at me.
I managed to stand again, but fell after a few steps. A tiny breeze picked up, but it only made things hotter.
The cow took on detail; black with a white blaze on its forehead, white legs, and it had long hair that moved in the breeze. Ranchers put cows on the range, but one with long hair was unheard of here.
Still, it came closer. Long sharp horns came into focus on the sides of its head the closer it got. They were nearly four feet from tip to tip. Would it hurt me?
“Shoo! Get out of here.”
The cow kept coming.
I curled up in a ball and hoped it would keep walking. I couldn’t outrun it, and those horns looked worse than the scorching heat.
It stopped about five feet away and turned sideways. It wore a saddle and reins.
Then it said, “There’s a waterskin hanging on the side.”
My vision exploded into a starburst of colors, and I tried to disappear into the salt. My head throbbed like something tried to claw it’s way out. “A talking cow. This is the end.”
“It is if you don’t drink the water. And I’m a yak.”
I stood and reached tentatively for the waterskin, keeping those horns at a distance. Once I reached it, I took a step back before drinking. “It’s hot.”
“I was out of ice. It’s wet enough. Drink more, then climb on.”
I looked around. Nobody else was coming, and he did have a saddle. When I lifted my foot, I staggered into the yak’s side. He pressed back to hold me up. There were no stirrups, so I leaned across the saddle, and crawled into a sitting position. My stomach revolted, and bile gurgled into my mouth. I coughed and spat. Coughing made me sneeze, and blood sprayed out my nose.
The yak plodded back the way he came. I leaned over the hump on his shoulders, too tired to hold myself up. The swaying made my stomach churn, and my head went numb.
When I opened my eyes, we were still on the salt but Joshua trees bordered the flat. I rubbed the crust out of my eyes. My lips were dry.
“Drink again. You’ve been out for a mile or two.”
The water was still hot, but I drank with a vengeance. “Still talking huh? I need to get back to Las Vegas.”
“There is no Las Vegas here.”
“Of course there is. Just take me there.”
“This is not somewhere you know.”
“Then where is it?”
“Someplace else.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“To your life.”
“That doesn’t make any sense at all. Why am I listening to a cow, yak thing?”
“You don’t have to. You can get off and go wherever you like.”

***

Okay, that was just a taste. I hope it whetted your appetite to read on. I’ve provided the universal purchase link if you’re so inclined.

Imagine waking up in the desert with no idea what happened to you. You have clear memories of situations and places, but a complete loss in personal matters… like your own name. This situation is bad, and you have no idea how to get home.

When you’re rescued by a talking yak, the situation gets exponentially worse. You’ve obviously lost your mind. The immediate needs of a ride off the salt pan and searing heat, along with a drink of water, outweigh the concerns about your mental state.

This is exactly what happened to the Yak Guy. In fact he’s been placed in an alternate world and given a chance to start over in life.

Can this selfish, almost parasitic, young man learn to start over in a world where charity is hard to find? Life is brutal and short here, but he’s going to have to adapt or perish.

The Yak Guy project is loosely based around The Fool’s Journey from the Tarot. Those with experience in Tarot will spot people and situations from the Major Arcana.

About the author

I was born in a town called Elko, Nevada. I like to tell everyone I was born in a small town in the 1940s. I’m not quite that old, but Elko has always been a little behind the times. This gives me a unique perspective of earlier times, and other ways of getting by. Some of this bleeds through into my fiction.

I moved to Idaho right after the turn of the century, and never looked back. My writing career was born here, with access to other writers and critique groups I jumped in with both feet.

I like to write about things that have something unusual. My works are in the realm of science fiction, paranormal, and fantasy. The goal is to entertain you for a few hours. I hope you enjoy the ride.

Lizzie St. Laurent is dealing with many of the struggles of young life. She lost her grandmother, and her living arrangements. Her new roommate abandoned her, and she’s working multiple jobs just to keep her head above water.

She inherits an old hat from her grandmother’s estate, but it belonged to her grandfather. This is no ordinary hat, but a being from an alternate dimension. One with special powers.

Lizzie and the hat don’t exactly hit it off right away, but when her best friend’s newborn is kidnapped by a ring of baby traffickers, Lizzie turns to the hat for help. This leads her deep into her family history and a world she’s never known.

Lizzie gives up everything to rescue the babies. She loses her jobs, and may wind up in jail before it’s over. Along the way, she and the hat may have a new way of making ends meet.

Humorous and fun, The Hat is novella length. Wonderful escapism for an afternoon.

“Short, snappy and very funny, Craig Boyack’s new novella is a magical and engaging read.” Extract of Amazon review by Anita Dawes.

A speculative selection of micro-fiction and short stories. These were designed to be short reads for your commute, coffee break, and other times when readers are pressed for time. This book contains a bit of science fiction, some fantasy, and paranormal stories.

“The Experimental Notebook of C.S. Boyack” is a delightful – and occasionally scary – collection of short stories that combines humor and horror with a dash of fantasy thrown in for good measure.
Boyack wanders all over the literary map with this small collection and readers will, I think, be delighted with the tales he has to tell. A young woman who has been abused by a bully sees him get his comeuppance from a very unusual source; an alchemist plots his revenge on the world in the ruins of his home and… well, suffice it to say that Boyack will hold your attention with this collection.” Extract of Amazon review by Mike Billington author of Corpus Delectable

A second collection of short stories and micro-fiction. Every story can be read in a single session. This time there are a few tributes to the pulp era. Stories include science fiction, paranormal, and horror.

“The second Experimental Notebook by C. S. Boyack is another adventure into some entertaining and downright genius short stories. The beauty of most of the stories is they grab you right in the beginning and then lead you down a path you never expected. It is a path that you are glad you traveled but where it comes out is an unusual surprise. “Extract of Amazon review byJohn W. Howell author of My GRL.

There is something evil up Bergamot Holler, and it’s been targeting the Hall family for generations.
Patty Hall is fifteen years old. She loves stargazing, science fiction, and all things related to space exploration. This leaves her perfectly prepared for the wrong problem.
Patty is afraid her mother will send her to a care facility if she tells her what she’s seen. If she doesn’t figure things out soon, she’s going to join her father in the Hall family cemetery plot.
Patty has to come to grips with her own physical handicap, face the wilderness, and an ancient evil all alone if she’s going to survive.
Will O’ the Wisp is suitable for young adults. It involves elements of suspense, and is set in the mid 1970s.

“The strange goings on in their town and friendship between these characters brought to mind Stranger Things on Netflix and the movie, Stand By Me, based on the short story, The Body by Stephen King. And I enjoyed the hell out of it.” Extract of Amazon review by Teri Polen, author of Sarah.

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About Sue Vincent

Sue Vincent is a Yorkshire-born writer and one of the Directors of The Silent Eye, a modern Mystery School. She writes alone and with Stuart France, exploring ancient myths, the mysterious landscape of Albion and the inner journey of the soul. Find out more at France and Vincent. She is owned by a small dog who also blogs.
Follow her at scvincent.com and on Twitter @SCVincent. Find her books on Goodreads and follow her on Amazon worldwide to find out about new releases and offers. Email: findme@scvincent.com.

Reblogged this on Entertaining Stories and commented:
Sue is one of those bloggers you ought to get to know. She’s always been very kind to me, and is one of the few places authors can get some decent promotion these days. Surf around her site today. While you’re there, check out the opening lines of The Yak Guy Project.

Great opening! I love the Yak Guy! (beta reader here). The dialogue is killer as are the characters. This is such an unusual book–okay, weird—and I mean that in the highest praise. I love unusual, quirky and weird. It’s fantastic to see the launch hosted here on Sue’s lovely blog. Wishing you the best, Craig!

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